Astrolabe

Steering by the Sun and Stars
A range of instruments have been used to measure position using the height of the sun, or a more distant star, above the horizon.

The mariner's astrolabe was adapted from the type used on land by the ancient Greeks and later Indians, Persians and Arabs.

This astrolabe was used on the Dutch ship Vergulde Draeck, wrecked off our west coast in 1656